Aw poop... My house (blower door score)
Вставка
- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- I got my house tested... and my score is XXXX???? In this episode I'll reveal my blower door score for my house under construction. I'm shooting for Passive House certification which needs a very low score. Find out how I did!
Follow Matt on Instagram! / risingerbuild
or Twitter / mattrisinger
For more great video content check out Matts new site! buildshownetwo...
Sign-Up for the Newsletter buildshownetwo...
Build Show Network on Instagram / thebuildshow
Huge thanks to our Show sponsors Polywall, Huber, Dorken Delta, Prosoco, Rockwool & Viewrail for helping to make these videos possible! These are all trusted companies that Matt has worked with for years and trusts their products in the homes he builds. We would highly encourage you to check out their websites for more info.
www.Poly-Wall.com
www.Dorken.com
www.Huberwood.com
www.Prosoco.com
www.Viewrail.com
www.Rockwool.com
This actually puts it into perspective how much air can be let in without failing an ACH test.
Hi
I'd love to see the blower door test again after you have the area barrier done.
That's a definite. It'll work fast too at .97
They'll go as low as he wants to pay for (if it isn't sponsored)
From what I've seen on the Aerobarrier the process is done with a blower door on so you get to see it seal as it happens.
I am looking forward to that too. AeroBarrier is what I plan to go with when we get to that point. If I can get below 0.6 I’ll be ecstatic at the plausible energy savings.
@@TofuInc That is what I have seen also. They just let it run until you see your desired ACH.
I’m in San Antonio, we lost power for 15 hours straight and then off and on for two more days during our snowmagedon. I was running all around the house tucking towels and blankets in our leaky windows and doors. I could not imagine how much cold ended up pouring in through our outlets. If I held my hand up to them it was like a fan pumping icy air into the house.
Buy a ton of high stretch caulk, and some flexible plastic tubing that fits over the caulk tip. Take the face plates off the outlets and then unscrew the outlets themselves, no need to disconnect the wires. You can pump caulk in the wire entry holes in the box this way! And then caulk around the box. If you're careful and you wear nitrile gloves, you can do this without turning the power off. Go ahead an reinstall everything and you'll have perfectly sealed outlet boxes. I did this for more than a dozen outlets in my house.
You can buy receptacle gaskets for outlets and switches. Also use child-proof outlet protectors.
@@Ariccio123 Nice idea, but I think a flexible tube and foam in a can would be better. Foam would be far easier to remove in the case of a remodel/rewire vs caulk.
@@Ariccio123 nitrile gloves won't protect you from getting electrocuted. All it takes is a tiny sharp corner on the cut end of a wire to nick the glove and you get zapped.
Dry leather gloves would actually give more protection at that voltage, but it's not worth your life to be lazy and not turn off the breaker and verify it's off.
Your new house is going to do great in the next Texas ice storm.
I'm glad that he mentioned @2:00 that it's not simple math for comparing holes. People tend to think that X amount of leakage means that you have to find a hole of Y size, but that's not the case. Air is viscous like maple syrup and experiences friction with the material at the edge of a hole (an aero effect known as a boundary layer). More air flows near the center of a hole (or a duct) than near the edges.
Circular holes are the "ideal" hole when looking at air leaks because it's the shape that has the smallest circumference/border material per unit area, so a circular hole has the highest airflow and the least amount of resistance. ***One 4 sq in hole causes much, much more leakage than four 1 sq in holes.***
If you have leaks and you find a round hole, you lucked out because you can solve a lot of leakage by plugging it. A long but narrow slit (like poor sealing at the bottom of a framed wall) of the same cross-sectional area as a round hole causes less leakage due to friction with more material at the edge of the hole (an aero effect called the boundary layer).
The worst scenario is when you don't have a round hole, and you don't even have one big giant slit, but actually have the sum of tons and tons of tiny leaks. When the leaks are tiny but many, you have to seal a ton of them to make any progress. Tiny holes are also more difficult to find with a smoke pen, because people like to rush smoke pen work. It also ends up being indicative of systematic issues with crew work quality or materials quality that require more than just a bandaid fix.
You can do it Matt. Get that certification.
Go around and smoke test with blower door running.
Lol
@@cp37373 Not a joke. I've actually done this. It's surprising where the air actually will come from. Not just exterior walls.
Thank you for the honest and educational insight here Matt (and Jake). You and the rest of the build show network is truly a godsend for those of us interested in sustainable dwellings. So many people complain that you guys are pushing products and processes that are too expensive for the "average homeowner". Problem is hardly anyone is willing to look at Total Cost of Ownership over the lifetime of the home. The attitude is "who cares... I'm only going to be living in this house for X years anyway"; Quite a bit different mentality from the rest of the world. Hopefully this changes with time, especially with the type of awareness and content you guys bring to the forefront. Thank you again for everything you guys do.
I've had AeroBarrier take a house down to 0.20 ACH. They'll get it done!
What was it before the AeroBarrier if you remember?
In for response! I wonder what's the lowest anyone has achieved.
@@grantsdad177 I keep trying to reply to this comment and it won't stick. It was around a 5 ACH.
@@wjthehomebuilder wow that’s crazy
About how much does it cost? Is it by house volume or sqft? I've always been curious but never reached out to them.
Any dry plumbing traps in unfinished areas letting air in?
Great point
This question was asked a few times. I suspect the answer is no and that making sure plumbing traps have water in them is on a check list of things to do before they run the test. But I wonder what happens if they aren't filled. Would the caulk stick to the pipes as the air with caulk is pushed through them. Is there the potential here for a serious problem?
@@davefoc I feel like for production reasons, Matt was doing this blower door test much earlier in construction than would normally be the case in the real world, so I wasn't sure if such a thing would be on the pre-test checklist, but I suppose it would make sense for it to be regardless. To be honest I've always had questions about the practical physics involved in that airborne caulking, and you've only just added another one to my list. 😉
Pressurize the house and use a fog machine. I did it. Really easy to spot.
Seems like a good idea. I thought it was routine to use a smoke source for tracking down the leaks but it seems nicer to use fog.
Pressurize or vacuum?
@@TerryPullen pressure with the fog machine inside. it will blow the fog outside. You can literally do this with a box fan a sheet of plastic and a fog machine from a party store.
@@av1204 Thanks, I am going to try that.
@@TerryPullen You can rent a blower from homedepot. Then buy 5 dollar plastic around the door. Give it some time to pressurize the house. You will be able to feel the difference. Go near a window and you will likely be able to hear air moving. Once you turn on the fog machine have some stand on the outside to look for leaks.
Tip when you apply those foam packs. Those need a little moisture on the surface to bond better. Where on site 2 stage spray foam doesn't need it.
Not many people would be this honest! Thank you Matt, and I look forward to how you go about fixing it!
Great job Matt keep us updated.
The video we've all been waiting on!
I have a tip from the Aviation side. I work in Aviation and the best way to find a pressurized air leak is smoke. Old school we used cigarettes these days we use smoke in a can. However I think you are creating a vacuum instead of pressure inside which is what we do in Aviation
If you can flip the fam around and pressurize the house the smoke will run right for any leak. Its like magic
We test buildings in both directions.
Matt if you want to track down the air leaks in the house before AeroBarrier does their thing; take a look at the video titled: "Why 5/3 is a fundamental constant for turbulence" in this video they use a LASER to look at airflow. If you used their DIY method you could see the air moving about the room and track down the major leak locations.
After all those years of laser light shows during rock concerts we can finally use it for building science, I think a thermal camera could help find leaks on a finished house if you had with a good temperature differential and looked both inside and out at night.
Hahaha. Best on the build show outro TO DATE
Nicly done Risinger. It’s tough to get down that low. I’d guess virtually nobody does, anywhere in the US.
Excellent stuff
Thanks Matt, great video as always. I'll be using the Aerobarrier guys as well this fall as my project comes to a close. Couldn't imagine finishing up a build without them. :)
Get a theatrical fog machine, run the blower door in reverse and find where those air leaks are from the outside.
I'd die to know where your last mile leaks are
Car mechanics use a leakage detection system with smoke from a hose. Probably easier to see.
@@matekochkoch I'm proposing he fill his house with theatrical fog, and pressurize the house so that he can see from the outside where leaks are.
Good stuff Matt and Jake! 👍🏼
I would think the closed cell foam would be way tighter than zip board and tape. Especially anywhere minimum of 2 inch spray foam. Great share on the blower door, crazy cfm though, that's a ton of bathroom fans running...
Easiest way to dispel health concerns about infiltration being too low is just to install an ERV/HRV. Infil isn't the issue, levels of O2/radon/CO are all that really matters.
Say you have a 2000 sq ft, 16000 cu ft, 3 bedroom, passive house (0.6 ACH@50PA). That translates to around 15 cfm @ 4PA - the nominal ambient pressure due to wind. The requirement for ventilation is (3+1)x7.5 cfm + 2000x0.01 cfm = 50 cfm. Or 0.35ACH = 93cfm. So some form of make of air is need for proper outside fresh air to breath.
So what happens when there is a power failure? Say at night when everyone is sleeping, and there is only 15 cfm leaking into the house.
The balance between saving energy and safety should always err on the side of safety.
I guess is time to call ☎️ in the Calvary 😂 😂 😂 wow I’m impressed
Similar to Cavalry?
Im a mechanic, it's funny how we can relate things to each others trade, we build cars and shoot for 500 HP and get disappointed when it comes in at 380 on a dyno, some call in the calvary, tuning, turbos, nitrous, race fuel, timing. Or for pressure leaks I had a friend testing pressure in intercooler system to find all the leaks and seal them up to make the drive pressure on the turbos better. I smoke test Intakes to find small vaccum leaks or exhaust leaks. We are all fighting for better results, all seeking perfection in am imperfect world. Keep it up.
Yes it's true. I'm an architect in Vancouver and we do smoke testing on buildings too during construction so we can troubleshoot air-barrier leaks well before we get to the blower door tests that are now becoming the norm.
Tilt and turn are impossible to put room darkening window treatments on. Love to see how Matt will do it. And bug screens as well.
He said that he never really opens his windows, so it's probably for when someone burns something in the oven, etc. But yea, I agree. How do you put blinds on something like that? I guess you only put it where you don't need them
@@marcob1729 You can get blinds that run in a track along the frame of the window pane, same as for ceiling windows. In Europe tilt and turn windows are also typically installed much further out in the wall cavity, so that the tilt does not extend past the inside wall surface and does not interfere with wall or ceiling mounted curtains.
Matt, I followed many of your ideas and techniques on my new build and my pre-drywall blower door score came in at a .54 ACH50. My home is two story but the lower first floor is garage, workshops, a full bath and an elevator shaft. The test was done only on the main living area. I used Zip R3 on the walls and 5/8 Zip sheet roof sheeting on the roof deck. I liquid flashes every nail shot in the zip and taped the seams. Since I have open rafter tails I closed cell shot the bird blocks and tail penetrations inside the envelope. All the walls, roof and subfloor was open cell. I can’t wait to see how much lower the score is when we do the final BLower Door test on completion.
You mentioned Passive House Certification. I would like to know how to apply and what benefit I would receive from this certification. Thanks
I did home weatherizations in Iowa with Americorps and got to use a blower door. Had one woman who told us her living room was always cold and turns out she had two windows behind her TV console that were open that she had forgotten about.
How could she not tell from the noise, rain coming in and seeing it from the outside?
Can’t wait to see the number after the aero barrier, great episode
Dumb question, did you block the plumbing vent lines/sewer lines before running this test?
I can't say 100% for sure, but my guess would be in a situation like this the sewer lines are likely already capped
What about the clothes dryer vent? And HVAC system?
@@bacawaka2813 so my knowledge is mostly second hand and dealing with retrofit/finished construction. In that world you wouldn't cap anything because you would want to actually test the normal and "worst case" situations. BUT in this case the dryer doesn't exist, so you may in theory have an open dryer vent in the wall. My guess in this case would be you cap it since you are trying to get the house to as low a leakage as possible, and it will be harder to find little leaks if you have a 4 inch hole in the wall. But again, purely a guess
This is a big reason why I want to go with ICF with a air/water barrier on the exterior vs wood build. It is infinitely easier to make them air tight.
"Time to call on the Calvary." HaHa. Time to make the supreme sacrifice on Golgotha!
I caught that too!
Wasn't sure if he said "Calvary" or "cavalry"... Funny. :-)
So many people switch those words.
@@garyg7145 As an atheist in the south, for many years I thought Calvary was just a southern mispronunciation of cavalry.
Can you imagine what Matt calls building science, all the preparations - all the planning, building materials (which are double even 2.5 times more cost from last year) all the exports in his network and all the skilled tradesmen failed on 1st try to gain a passive house certification. Matt’s attempt to pass on first go around because he thought he had it all figured out. Disappointing would be an understatement. if I were his client, Per the contract agreement I would’ve signed clearly states this house didn’t pass on 1st go around - his paying 100% of the tweaks to fix. Including heavy daily fines till the 2ed passed test. Didn’t pass the 2ed time, daily fines would increase x2. 3 times and not passed, fines increase x3 and so on.The daily fines would keep increasing till this house passes. Many people reading this post may feel that I’m being harsh, but those are the inexperienced folks whom have clearly never experienced building a custom home. You have to understand, when your building on this kind of level Matt is trying to build on, you better be the best of the best. Nothing less. I’m not saying Matt isn’t good, but his young, hungry and very eager to gain his footprint on building to a higher standard. He’s just not there yet. You also have to understand the smart - green house movement is very young and your going to pay a very high premium for the latest greatest technology. I know I can 100% air seal a house for 2/3 less cost. All I’m going to say is, we use linex bed liner to seal air-water and whatever. Nothing is getting through. UA-cam has videos that proves the coating even are blast proffered. Linex has a contract with department of defense with products are explosion proof building construction. I don’t know if Huber lumber or Tyvek can provide that level of protection. That level of protection would prove a solid performer for hurricane protection.
And while watching this in my home on 50 ACH 5 and looking to the AC that's running most of the day.
I definitely can use some zipsheets.
Been watching your videos for years. Not a builder but above level DYI remodeler, and have been putting your best practices to all my projects. Would really love a house made by you down here in Houston. Guessing you exclusive to Austin
Also your real rebuild project has been amazing thanks for taking us along
The house I am living in (if owned I would fix all this), has 8ACH per an hour... If my math is right, that is approximately a 4'-0"x4'-0" hole in the wall. No vapor barrier walls R13, and attic R15.
By the way, I had this done as was trying to figure out why the aircon bill was $200 a month. Turned out all my ducks had been taped on with duck tape, not foil tape, by the previous owner. Thankfully I had a friend in the aircon business and provided me with the proper zip ties and cement, plus ducting to move the trunk nailed to the underside of the roof to sitting on the bottom cords of the trusses. After that, bill went to $70 a month and have 55*F out of the vents.
Matt I really like to see you build an ICF house and see what Blow door test comes back at
It's the future IMO
@@chaseoes there's more to comfort and efficiency than R value. There's more than comfort and efficiency advantages to ICF.
We have done a lot of work on our 60yo house and always aimed for efficiency and proper insulation . We got 5.29 ach at 60 .
That's pretty good for the age of house!
I think you will get there. I know it is disappointing, but below 1 is amazing. Excited to see what the AiroBarrier (spelling?) group brings it to.
I could see the wheels turning in your head as you looked at Kyle R@R's post frame building, you see all the possibilities of a "low cost" energy efficient build utilizing post frame construction for residential building. I have spent quite a bit of time researching this myself and am very close to breaking ground.
Hi Matt, please do the same test at the end of remodeling of your house. When all interrior will be finish. This could be a game changer.
On the build show!
Matt, since you have the equipment there, you should test your existing house just for reference.
I did it a few years ago and my remodel from 15 years ago blew a 5 ACH50
@@buildshow was that down to stud remodel ?
At 9:03 you really "nailed it" when you said it was "time to call in the Calvary". 🤣
Seriously though, calling in AeroBarrier should get you down to or below 0.6 without too much trouble, and that will go far on getting that PassiveHaus certification.
Looking forward to that video.
Part of what I got up for every day- What new thing would I learn? How would it be applied? Could I demonstrate to my clients that they gained from it? This air leakage was never a "thing" at the beginning of my career and only High end applicable at the end. The things you don't know are important! Thanks- do some more of this!
Come test the house in in right now. Builders literally cut the door to make it fit. Huge leaks all over. Wind whistles as it blows from the garage gate, through the garage door into the house, and blowing stuff off the wall. Fixing some of the leaks was the difference of 6-8 degrees of heat preserved/hour.
Those results make me think that you need to go ICF if your goal is passive house certification.
Good luck, I'm sure you will get the leaks shored up for the final product.
When you do the Aerobarrier episode, I'd be interested to hear if you think for most builders it would make sense to not obsess on all the different things you did to make your house tight but instead rely on that one technology as the primary means to stop all the leaks.
I had a feeling you were going to bring aerobarrier after this blower door test! Love watching aeroseal/ aerobarrier videos.
I'm honestly surprised that opening a window like that didn't cause more of a change. Regardless, it's pretty scary to realize that code minimum (3ACH50) houses where I'm from (MI) is equivalent to two open windows. 99% of America's homes likely are worse than that.
standard in australia is 10ach50. no one actually tests this and 99% of new houses wouldn't even meet that. its hard even to buy a ERV that isn't 120V (american import) or expensive :-/ lucky we have a reasonable climate!
You should see what Australian Building standards are. It’s a complete and utter joke.
Don’t need insulation, no need for air or vapour barriers, no one uses double glazed windows, and doors are almost never sealed.
We leak from every possible point.
I saw UA-cam channel from Australia the way they were building and it really felt like it was a race to the bottom with some of those contractors the way they cut corners.
@@scremingwhisper1720 I have so many stories about contractors on my house (~2 years old). To give you idea of the people involved, a bunch of painters were sitting having smoko (break/lunch) and were comparing how many times each had been stabbed in a fight. Yep, high class trades right there and yes my house looks worse than my 25 year old house. No one will fix anything post handover and you are left to your own to try to find someone else to fix everything. I did the sarking (tyvek) and wall insulation myself (was lucky I was allowed to) and it was constant battle with those same people simply cutting holes everywhere, removing insulation or generally hassling me as I was making them look like they were doing a bad job. even 3ach50 is simply unacheivable for most of Australia even with infinite budget :-/ I really wish the manufacturers would focus a little on easy assemblies and push them in to our market.
Unless you used a gasket and caulk, sill plates are big leakers.
Time to call Aerobarrier to get serious you seem like a 1.0 ach 60 kind of guy to me
I was going to ask in the previous video "if you were unsatisfied with your score, would you bring in AeroBarrier?" You answered my question.
Yup.
Sometimes, when it comes to this, its "the way it goes" We buy a house as a whatever owner, fix what we can, and move on. Unless we do a complete ripout and redo, we can only do so much. Leaky, oh well, is it about the goal of perfection that cant be reached?
The numbers track pretty well with total area of the hole. If 30 CFM increase happens with 3 1.5" diameter holes then you end up with about 54.5 CFM predicted for a 3.5" hole. I got about 5.66 cfm/square inch
Matt,
If your HVAC system is not fully functional, could some of the leakage be back-feeding though it?
Just a thought.
What I am taking from this is..
- fixed windows preferred (except for egress)
- use ICF
- being all utilities in from below ground, not thru the walls.
I'm not sure if aerobarrier is the best way to tighten down to passivehaus. It feels like cheating because I don't trust how long it lasts. If you got it down from 1.6 to .9 I think you can get that last .3.
Part 2 I’m using Roxwool in the walls and ceiling’s with also in the inside walls it’s a 1,400sq ft home raised foundation I have it gutted now
Thermal Imaging with a Blower door is the only way to go to find those leaks. It's like having your cake and ice cream together. We find a lot of issues with the windows! not from the installation, but from the manufacturing side.
Last week I asked "Are you gonna use AeroBarrier if you're above 0.6?" This time I'm gonna ask: Is there a way to put florescent material like highlighter ink in the AeroBarrier so you can see where the leaky spots are using a black light?
I think he said he's going to jizz into the fan then used that bio-luminescent stuff they use at crime scenes.
We use UV/temperature cameras
Don't need to do that. Aerobarrier will stick to all the problem areas and leave a white caulking compound. It's easy to spot the bad spots after it's all done.
At 4:46you can see a hole with light coming through your garage. It looks like a cut hole for running cable through, just hasn't been sealed yet.
The area of the 3" hole was 9x the area of the 1" holes, but it only let in 5x the CFM. Interesting -- and consistent with Jake's comment at 1:49.
(BTW, I'm quite sure the holes were in fact 1", per measuring the relative size of the holes on my screen with my ruler at 2:35. #datascience)
Not sure about the on screen measuring you did, but assuming the holes are the size they stated (1.5" and 3.5") then the area is roughly 5.5x. So a 5x CFM increase would make sense, especially considering they likely rounded their 10CFM and 50CFM values.
Great video
I’m trying to come up with my own air handler or something for our sons tiny house we built. Very tight envelope and single exhaust in bathroom on humidity control switch. Need inexpensive sensor or air exchange system because we only have windows that allow fresh air in. He keeps those closed even though I told him to leave cracked a bit.
foursevenfive.com/lunos-e/
Not inexpensive. But why bother? Your son seems a dimwit if he lives inside a tight box without fresh air.
add a 24 hour timer in parallel with the humidistat on the fan.
Some time we must open a door to exit! You need air locks to keep loss down. A enclosure on ever exit will save lot of energy!
You put so much effort into creating good air tightness, expect a good score and it comes in horrifically low. I’ve been there. Stuffing and spraying all over the place trying to fix it. Makes you think we’re doing something fundamentally wrong. I keep thinking about CLT. It’s not the answer, but it must help. The principle must be a impler construction. Less is better.
Caulk your multi-board top plates and base plates.
Also, you still don't have that rear window in. So you likely STILL have air intrusion there, covered over or not.
I believe he did that. He had a demonstration of sealing the base plates on this project if I remember correctly.
@@littlerhino2006 Possibly to the floor.
Not so sure about between the boards.
Spray foam in a can to seal gaps is not how you make a house airtight. Good design and detailed taping during construction is the answer then keeping control of penetrations through the airtight layer. The timber frame company that built my house regularly get 0.3 ach @50Pa or better on their first test and guarantee to be better than 0.6 ach @50Pa. Good to see promotion of PassivHaus building.
I can’t believe your using galvanized plumbing in that house........ 5:00 for reference
not galvanized, it's cast iron. he did it to have quieter plumbing but the stuff fails in a hurry from what I've heard.
Latex paint on that OSB would do wonders.
I've seen some headlines in the last year about CO2 accumulation. It's not anything deadly but decreasing oxygen concentration during sleep can result is less good outcomes as sleep apnea demonstrates.
That's why you use Mechanical (forced air) ventilation equipment. Matt, has done several videos on ERV's/HRV's. With an ERV/HRV, you will not have CO2 accumulation.
I really hope you do another video with some professionals coming in to see what improvements they can do.
If you put that blower on my front door, I'd bet that my 1965 ranch with single pane windows would be over 10 ACH. I also have a vented attic and crawlspace. Open fixtures. It would be a disaster. I took a IR thermometer and pointed it around the fixtures and doors this winter and saw roughly a 10-20 dT. My electric bill was like $250 a month just to keep the house at 68F. Spray foam can only do so much as a hot-fix.....
I wonder if the blower door score would get better after drywall and finishing the house completely.
Matt, instead of just saying "Oh even tight houses are leaky enough to keep indoor air quality high", why don't you test it?
I lived in Austin for 17 years. Had my windows open quite a lot. One of my friends had a house with a whole-house-fan. It was a very comfortable house, even without A/C.
Ok I just found your site , I’m thinking of putting the high dents foam in the attic but can I go vertical with it instead of in between the rafters northern Arizona around Sadona
You might want to use area not diameter for your calculations. The area of a 1.5 in. hole is 1.76. The area of a 3.5 in. hole is 9.3. 9.3/1.76 is 5.3 and that is why you saw 5x more airflow for the big hole.
Need to seal all joints between floor and sill plates with caulk and between studs.
Any place two pieces of wood connect, there is a leak.
If you spray an inch of closed cell foam, wouldn't that drastically reduce the leakage?
Plug your stack vent.
Can somebody please tell us how much Aerobarrier costs? Yes, I realize it's variable, but how about a ballpark number for a 4000 sf home to get to ~1ach50 on new home construction with moderate attention to air sealing (taped seams/caulked sill plates/air-sealed windows etc)
All I've heard in other videos is around 5 grand. Someone will chime in here.
I have heard to add around $4-$5K USD. Brutally overpriced and the payoff will take a VERY long time. 0.8ACH is possible without Aero by using a reputable green builder.
I have paid $1.50/ sq ft.
I think the set up charge was 1500 to 2000 then material. So way more cost effective psf the larger the house.
Matt, have you ever made a video about compressed earth block (TexaTerra, etc)?
I've searched but didn't know if it was under that name.
The bottom and top plates need gaskets inside and out on both levels.
Great video Matt! When can you help us masonry home folks on the coast on insulation? Would love to hear what you would say for the Hot/Humid Climate zones and block construction....
You should look in to the air sealing and insulation systems that we use here in the UK and across Europe as 99% of our homes are built using masonry construction. We typically have a brick exterior "facing," masonry skin followed by a cavity(usually 75-100mm deep so 3-4 inches) followed by an internal masonry skin constructed with concrete blocks, the cavity is insulated but as we have some homes built with 9 inch solid walls or don't older homes with un-insulated cavities we have developed some systems to insulate these homes. There is internal wall insulation which tends to be plasterboard(drywall) with rigid PIR insulation fixed to the back of it which is brilliant but you do lose space off your room.
There is an excellent external wall insulation system where you fix a metal stop bead/tray to the external brickwork at the damp course level and then fix 3 foot by 2 foot,4 inch thick polystyrene insulation slabs to the masonry, you stagger them until your full wall or house is covered in its new cosy jacket. You then apply a thin render similar to tile adhesive and sink a mesh in to it, on top of this you apply a silicone based, coloured top coat which not only gives you a sealed and watertight building but also a beautiful rendered finish.
If you need an aftermarket insulation solution them I would recommend that you check them out! 👍😃
I wonder if before Aero Barrier comes in, how hard would it be to hit the top and bottom plates with a quick seal at the seams with a graco sprayer and some Prosoco MVP at close range as a seam sealer. Perhaps it could flow into the cracks. Also, if that wasn't done before you put down the avantec floor, you might not get to the bottom. Just curious if that has ever been tried or not.
Cheating by taping operable windows and doors. LOL Had 30 mph 25 degree cold wind blowing off the bay a few days ago. One of my Andersen 400 series double hung windows had a noticeable leak in the upper corner.
I thought I should tape these windows in the winter time.
That badass I think I live in Oklahoma city
Would be really nice to know what the ACH is with the windows not taped up. Otherwise the number is kind of pointless.
Try using a smoker around the outside of your house to find the vacuum
Any opinions on what results doing a blower test over a fog test? If you do this enough yeah the blower rig makes sense but if you're doing this once every few years can you expect to better results with one method over the other.?
Matt, do you have or know of any content on converting a garage into a living space?
I’d take a look around the house again! you had to of missed something I bet that house is tighter
Could you reverse the fan and use a fog machine to find the leakage?
I have no issues with air pressure and blow doors
Hi my name is Matt Risinger, I spend a shit ton of money on really nice Euro style windows but only open them maybe once a year.......
I get it, it's about quality, Europe builds to last, 'murica switched to
Do you not need opening windows as a means of escape in a fire in habitable rooms? Certainly do in UK building regs.
I think the reason as to why he went for them is that they could be tighter and have better u-values. Jealousy and sarcasm reads loud and clear though.
I didn’t know you could do the latter in America.
// Europe
@@Candisa that the Californians in TX buying 5000 sq ft builder grade homes . Wait til they get that $700 AC bill in the summer .